From Now On
by basshannah
Summary: James Sirius Potter is Head Boy, Quidditch captain, he gets great grades and has a loving family... All he doesn't have, is her.
1. Chapter 1

**A/N: Story has gone through some adjustments, some slight, some major :) hope you all enjoy!**

As hundreds of students poured off of the train and onto the platform, there was only one person James was looking for.  
He scanned the crowd. He saw his brother waving him over from about 20 metres away, James forced his way through the crowd, dragging his trunk along behind him, when he saw his parent's grins, which he returned with gusto... but he saw the one he was really looking for, 10 year old Lily, holding her father's hand. James dropped his trunk as she let go and sprinted towards him through the crowd. She shoved her way through until she reached James, who lifted her off the ground and hugged her. She threw her arms around her neck; James held her close and kissed her head.  
He still held onto her as she leaned back to talk to him.

"I missed you." She said, before putting her arms around his neck again,

"Missed you too Lil's" he replied, over the crowd he could see his mother, smiling at them lovingly. He lowered himself to set her down on the ground again, he picked up his trunk by the handle, and held Lily's hand with the other, and they forced their way to the rest of the family.

"How was it darling?" his mother asked the boys,

Albus began a rant about the year, about exams and about what he learnt, everything Mum wanted to hear, James smiled and looked down at Lily, His dad took his trunk from him, James grinned at his dad, then picked Lily up again as they kept walking, she giggled and he swung her onto his back. She laughed and struggled against him but settled on his back with her hands around his neck.

"How was school?" He asked her,

"It was good, it's weird though, because I won't see anyone next year..." she said, wrapping her legs around his waist.

"Weird saying goodbye?" He asked,

"Yeah, but hopefully I'll see them over the summer"

"I'm sure you will, I still see Sophia remember?"

"I saw her the other day; she was playing football in the park, I waved but I don't think she saw me..."

"We'll go see her soon okay? She loves seeing you"

By this time the family was outside the station,  
Harry said; "I'll go bring the car around, wait here you lot"

"Psssst, James, There's a pretty girl staring at you" Lily giggled, starring to their left,

James turned and spotted the pretty girl Lily was talking about, she was petite, porcelain skin, startling blue eyes, deep brown hair... James knew this girl;

Eleanor Williams.

He gave her a slight wave, and Lily waved too. Her mouth was hung open slightly as she waved back. James winked ad grinned. She shut her mouth, rolled her eyes and got in the car in front of her. James laughed.

"She doesn't like you, does she?" Lily giggled

"She does" James grinned,

"She just doesn't know it yet does she mate?" Albus said nudging his brother,

"Shut it" James laughed, shoving his brother away,

Harry and Ginny pulled up in the car, and they all clambered into the back seat,

"How's work been dad?" James asked

"Busy" Harry laughed, Harry Potter after defeating Voldemort at aged 17, was inducted as an Auror only 2 and a half years later, and has been working at the Ministry ever since.

"What about you Mum?" James asked

"There's been a huge breakout of dragon pox lately..." Ginny said, flicking through the map book in the front seat,  
Ginny Potter works at St Mungoes as one of the top Healers of the decade.

"Why do you need the map Mum?" Albus asked

"We're going to one of the blokes from the office's house for dinner tonight" Harry answered,

"Are we going?" Lily asked curiously,

"Not if you don't want to" Harry smiled at her in the rear-view mirror. She grinned back.

"I think I'll stay home if you don't mind Dad, pretty tired" James said to his dad

"Same" Albus chimed,

"Punch buggy-yellow!" James said punching his brother in the arm as he saw a yellow Volkswagen Beetle pass them

"Ouch!" Albus said, "No fair!"

"How old are you James?" Ginny asked, turning around to scold him,

"Ouch Mum, thought you would know, seeing as you we're there and all" James grinned

She rolled her eyes and turned forward again, Lily was in fits of laughter next to James.

After 45 minutes, they finally reached home. The beautiful white 2 story Potter home, the front of the house covered in luscious vines and the front yard filled with stunning flowers. They all piled out of the car and Albus and James grabbed their trunks from the car, once inside James dragged his up the stairs until he reached his room. He dropped his trunk and flopped down onto his bed face first. He suddenly began thinking of the last few days;

_"Why won't you leave me alone?" she asked picking up her books and shoving them in the bag,_

_"Why do you want me to?"_

_"Just go away!"_

_"That's not an answer..."_

_"No but this is-" she said before she slapped him across the face._

_She stormed away, and he put his hand to the now red hand mark which rest on his left cheek._

_"She's mental..." He mumbled to himself as he rubbed his cheek._

James rolled over and groaned, he rubbed his cheek as he remembered the pain of the slap.

He wasn't sure what his infatuation with Eleanor was. There was just something so real about her that James liked. The other girls he had dated were so self-centred and fake; only doing things because it made people like them. Rather than doing things because they wanted to. Everyone called Eleanor, Ellie. Except James, he called her Williams. And she called him Potter. She was in Gryffindor, she played Quidditch, every morning that they had off of training, she would go for a run around the grounds. She was smart. She was, of course, beautiful. She was sweet and funny, but not to James. No, to James she was cold, and harsh, and short tempered. She just didn't realise that James knew how she really was...

She thought James was repulsive. That he was an egotistical git. That he was so pig-headed to see that not everyone wants to date him. But James knew that. He just wanted her to date him.

He groaned again. He sat up and looked at his trunk...

"Unpacking can wait..." He thought to himself.

Ginny was standing in the doorway as she lightly knocked on the open door,

"Hey" James said,

"We're about to head off" She said softly, His parents were going to some party for one of the aurors house warming party.

"You alright to look after everyone tonight?" She asked

"Of course, we've got food for dinner right?"

"Yeah I went shopping this morning, there's plenty of everything, also I've left money out if you want to get take out" She smiled,

"Great, well you and Dad have a good time then" He grinned, she nodded and walked away.  
About 5 minutes later, Harry shouted from downstairs,

"We're off you lot! Behave yourselves!"

"We won't!" Albus replied from across the hall from James' room,

James could hear his parents laughing as they left.

"What's for dinner?" Albus yelled out,

"Make ya own" James replied,

"Seriously?"

"What do you want?"

"What do we have?"

"I don't know..."

"Well can you look?" Albus asked,

"Look yourself you lazy tosser" James laughed, he heard Al grumbling as he stomped downstairs and he laid back down onto his bed, thinking of Quidditch, his mind wandered to last year's trials...

_"Williams?"_

_"For God's sake Potter, what do you want now?"_

_"I was just going to ask if you could pass me my drink, but never mind..."_

_"Oh-"  
_  
James wasn't sure what he had done to make her hate him... he knew why she hated him, that because to her he appeared selfish, arrogant, immature, cocky, basically every dismal quality under the sun. But he wasn't sure what had made her feel like this about him. Whether it was something he'd done, or said... he must have done it without realising...


	2. Chapter 2

The summer past by so quickly that before James knew it had been two and a half months and he only had 2 weeks before he started his final year at Hogwarts. He'd organised to see his mate from primary school Sophia. Though their childhood days were behind them they managed to stay friends. It hadn't been until the summer of 4th year had James found out that Sophia was too, magical. She attended Beauxbatons Academy of Magic in the south of France. Sophia wasn't the girliest of girls. She liked to play football; she got muddy and dirty and didn't care. Her boyfriend's we're usually twat's in James' opinion, always talking about their feelings. This was usually why they didn't hang around for long, James was of the opinion that most of them couldn't handle having a girlfriend who, to put it nicely, had more balls than them.

This isn't to say that Sophia doesn't occasionally act like a girl. But to her, putting make up on every day and having to look like a doll was just too trivial for her. She'd prefer to be playing Quidditch. James always wondered how she fits in at Beauxbatons, He'd met a few of the girls and they were all very proper ladies. And Sophia was the kind of girl who would call someone a git and often was the first to throw a punch.

Sophia loved Lily though. Lily was like her little sister. She was an only child and James knew having Lily around meant a lot.

James grabbed his football from under his bed and pulled out a pair of runners. He went down stairs and into the kitchen. He sat down and pulled his shoes on and tightened the laces. He stood up bouncing the ball and grabbed an apple from the fruit bowl on the counter. He went into the living room where Al was watching some muggle TV show. Lily was asleep on the couch, with her head in his lap. He looked up as James entered; he put his finger to his lips and indicated to Lily. James nodded and whispered, "Going to see Sophia, I'll be back in a bit. You guys okay on your own?"

Their parents we're at work and had left the kids home alone, this happened a lot over the summer, but none of them minded.

"Yeah we're fine" Al whispered back, they bumped fists and James left silently.

Once outside James took a deep breath. He loved being home for the summer. Everything about summer he loved, the air, the warmth, being home with his family. If you could find anything on the planet that James loved more than his brother and sister... then you probably deserve a medal. He began walking towards Sophia's house which was only 3 streets away from his own. He bounced the football as he walked; he was humming a song which had been stuck in his head for weeks.

Beauxbatons started their summer a few weeks before Hogwarts, which meant they went back a few weeks earlier as well. So today was one of Sophia's last days of her summer.

He reached her house within a few minute and knocked on the big wooden door, her mother answered,  
"Good afternoon Mrs Peterson" James grinned,

"James! So good to see you, how has your summer been?" she said with a soft smile

"Pretty relaxed to be honest, just hanging around at home"

"Brilliant, well Sophia's upstairs in her room"

"Thanks Mrs Peterson" James smiled at her as he walked inside, and wandered upstairs.

Sophia's room was similar to James'. Decorated with Quidditch posters, photos of her and her friends at school, floors splayed across the floor and overflowing from the washing hamper, her school trunk in the corner, and what lied on the top was the best part of her room. He dropped the football in the doorway and ran to the broomstick,

"Hey mate-" Sophia started to say when she realised he was in her room,

"Leave, we need some time alone... I've missed you" he crooned to the broomstick, Sophia laughed and picked up a shoe nearby and threw it at him and it hit him square in the head.

The cyclone. The fastest broom yet. Her parents had bought it for her for her birthday last year. Made of a beautiful mahogany wood, she took amazing care of it, polishing and trimming it when necessary. He stood up and went over to her, they hugged, it was then James noticed a new addition to the room,

"What in Merlin's pants is _that_?" He said, releasing the hug and staring at her open wardrobe.

She turned to see what he was looking at, her eyes bulged,

"Uhh, nothing" she said rushing to close the doors.

"Ohhh no, you're not getting away with it that easily" he said pushing he out of the way and opening the doors again despite her protests

"No! James- Don't!"

He pulled out the hanger which had caught his eye.

"Well well well, what do we have here?" He said raising an eyebrow,

She huffed and crossed her arms across her chest and looked away. She grumbled something inaudible.

"Pardon?" James asked grinning, "I couldn't hear you, could you repeat that?"

"It's a dress" She stated with a cold stare.

"And why dear friend, is there a dress in your closet?" James was thoroughly enjoying himself.

She gave him the most intense glare she could muster.

"Because I need one for the ball" she said with no emotion

James examined the dress. It was very pretty. A floor length dress, deep purple in colour, it had one shoulder which was a lighter shade of purple, which at contact with the dress became a band which then connected again to the shoulder strap at the back.

"Put it on then" he said thrusting it towards her.

"No" she said

"C'mon! I won't get to see you in it the least you can do is show me now!" he whinged, giving her puppy dog eyes.

She snatched it from him and said "I hate you" before marching into her ensuite bathroom.

She was wearing a pair of running shorts and a tank top, she'd straightened her usually wavy hair and was pulled up into a high ponytail.

James sat on her bed, pushing a pile of clothes to the floor.

"How was Italy by the way?" He called to her,

She had spent the majority of her summer in Italy, which was why this was the first time James had seen her,

"Brilliant, was so warm down there, guys we're fantastic." She called back through the door

James at first thought she was talking about how attractive the guys were, then he realised she was talking about football... _Typical Sophia,_James thought to himself.

"Do I have to show you?" She asked, she sounded defeated,

"Yes." He said grinning. The door unlocked and she stepped out with her arms folded across her chest. James stood up, he didn't say anything. He took a step towards her.

"It looks ridiculous, i don't even want to go, it's going to suck and-" She began to ramble, she looked uncomfortable.

"If you don't go. I will kick your ass." was James' reply. He grabbed her shoulders and held her an arm's length away.

He looked her up and down, the dress looked amazing, it hugged her in all the right places, the colour complemented her skin, her hair was still pulled back into the messy ponytail, which made James smiled,

"You look stunning" he said simply, giving her a smile.

"Liar" she said, squinting at him,

"Never"

She began to look uncomfortable,

"I'm just gonna get changed" she said, she turned around and shut the door

**-  
**  
Sophia went back to school and sent James multiple owls saying how annoying it was that he was still on holidays and she was in a boring classroom. James laughed every time he got a new one. The latest one read;  
"You truly are a git."  
James got the impression she was running out of things to complain about...

It was only 2 days until the first of September, and Lily was starting Hogwarts this year.

Ginny had bought her, her robes last week and she had put them on at least once a day since then. She ran into James' room as he was packing... or more or less shoving his clothes into his trunk.

"What if I forget to pack something?" She squealed

"Then mum and dad can owl it to you" James laughed softly, she smiled and ran out again  
The doorbell went downstairs, and James assumed it was someone for his parents. A moment later, he was tackled onto his floor.

"Oi!" he shouted, the figure stood up, and James looked up,  
"What are you doing here?" He grinned, standing up hugging the man in front of him.  
Scott Davis was tall, probably about 6 foot, he has dirty brown hair and pale blue eyes, with his broad shoulders, he makes a bloody good beater.

"The old ones are away, so I thought I could hang out with you and hitch a lift to the station?" he said grinning,

"'Course" James grinned back

Lily ran back into James' room with another panicked expression,

"What if- Hi Scotty!" she exclaimed smiling,

"Hey Lil's, excited?" he asked her, she nodded and ran out of the room again.

Scott had been one of James' best mates since first year. There were two others in their group, Ben O'Brian and Matt Rayner. All of which we're the resident trouble makers slash heartbreakers at Hogwarts.

"Have you seen any of the boys?" Scott asked, flinging himself onto James' bed,

"They both went away mate..." James said, Scotty had a tenancy to forget some things,

"Oh, right" he said, with a grunt indicating that he remembered this information now,

A tawny owl was tapping at James' window. James walked over to the window and he opened it up and the owl flew inside and over to his desk, there was a heavy looking letter tied to its foot. James untied it and gave the owl some feed, satisfied the owl hooted and flew away. It was a Hogwarts envelope. Scott sat up curiously, James opened it up and out fell two badges, both of which he caught in his right hand. His eyes popped open. And he looked up at Scott.

"What is it?"

James read the letter,

"_Congratulations Mr James Sirius Potter, You have been selected for the position of_- Merlin's pants..."

"What? What does it say?" Scotty asked standing up

"Head boy" James said weakly

"What?" Scott yelled incredulously,

"And Gryffindor Quidditch captain... is that even allowed?"

"Apparently so..." Scott was still laughing, "Head boy? Are they mental?"


	3. Chapter 3

The fact that even Harry, James' own father, had laughed at the fact that he was now Head boy and Quidditch captain didn't exactly bestow much confidence in James,  
As Harry laughed, James sighed and said,

"Thanks Mate" and began to walk off, until Ginny slapped Harry on the back of the head.

"James come back here" She said warmly, James turned around and Ginny had her arms out spread,  
James smiled and hugged his mother,

"I'm so proud of you" She whispered to him, James smiled again.

As he pulled away he saw his dad grinning, James was kind of hurt that Harry thought it so funny...  
He began to walk away,

"Hey kid... James, oi come back here" Harry said, James took a breath and turned around,

"I'm sorry" Harry said walking up to him, "You just never seemed like you wanted it before"  
James said nothing, he merely nodded.

"Kid, you know I'm proud of you." He said simply "Especially for Quidditch Captain, you deserve it mate. As for Head Boy, well in my opinion Hogwarts needs a bit of shaking at its core" Harry said smiling

This actually meant quite a lot to James, his father was Gryffindor Quidditch captain when he was at school...

"Thanks Dad" James said, hugging his Dad,

The next 2 days flew by, Matt had owled James asking if he could stay with him and the Potters the night before they were heading back to school. So when the morning of the first of September came, the car was mighty full; with James, Scott, Matt, Albus, Lily, Ginny and Harry. Harry had somehow charmed the car to fit more people in the back seat, but it wasn't exactly roomy.

"Ouch, Matt I'm sitting on your hand" Scott said as the car stopped at a traffic light,

"No, you're not... my hands are right here" Matt said lifting his hands up in the air.

Scott's eyes widened, "Then whose hand is that?"

James realised it was his, and pinched his friends ass very hard,

"Ouch!" Scott yelped,

Everyone laughed,

"How was France Matty?" Ginny inquired, swivelling to look at one of her extra sons,

"Ahh it was good, was good to see the family again"

Matt was reasonably dark skinned, he had brown eyes and black hair which he never bothered to tame, leaving him with the impression that he had just woken up, all day long...  
His family was from Australia originally, but they had moved to England so long ago, that Matt's accent was only very subtle and only came out of certain words, like when he said 'mate'...  
He had cousins that lived in Paris in France, who him and his family usually visited every second summer or so.

Once they reached the station, they all piled out of the car and grabbed their trunks, Albus grabbing Ramsay, the owl that Harry and Ginny had bought James in his first year at Hogwarts, that had become the Potter kids owl as the years went on.

Lily was bouncing with excitement as she grabbed James' hand. They found trolleys to carry their trunks. As they made their way through the station, James started seeing people he recognised; there's Christina Maysworth; keeper for Hufflepuff, Daniel Quin; Ravenclaw beater and

"Oh shit" James muttered when he saw the next person he recognised,

"Jim Jams!" she squealed. James tried to hide his face

"Don't try and hide from me! I know its youuuuu" she crooned, James looked at his parents, both of whom were going bonkers with laughter.

She came up to the group, "Are you introducing me to your parents? How sweet"

James cringed as she introduced herself to Harry and Ginny, who smiled politely, while James knew on the inside they were losing it...

"Katie, can I talk to you?" James asked, pulling her away a few steps,

"Sure thing baby-cakes" She said winking as they took a few steps away from the group, James groaned,

"What's up" She said with an overly sweet voice, as she curled her platinum blonde hair around her finger.

"Katie, do you remember what happened last term?" James asked, not making eye contact with her

"The fight? I know, I'm sorry too baby, I missed you so much over the summer"

"No... well yes, the fight, but do you remember what was said during the fight?"

"Yes, but that's over now James, and what counts is that we love each other" She said smiling, "I forgive you"

James was dying here, he glanced at the boys over his shoulder,

They were holding back bites of laughter too, Albus wasn't holding back though...

"We broke up" James said simply,

"Yeah, we did... but we're alright now..." Katie said, she seemed to be getting more and more confused,

"No, we're not... because-"

"Because he doesn't want to be with you" Matt said to her, he was now standing on James' shoulder,

"I-I-I don't understand" Katie said, tearing up slightly,

"You broke up, you're still broken up" Scott said from James' other shoulder.

"Is this true?" Katie said to James, Matt when to open his mouth when she snapped,

"I want to hear him say it!"

"I said it to you last term Katie... I don't understand how you could misunderstand that. I said that you were possessive and clingy and that I didn't want to be with you anymore. How is that misunderstood?" James finally snapped, Katie's eyes welled up and she said,

"If that's how you feel, okay" before pushing her trolley away and running in the other direction

James turned back to the group, he tried to explain;

"That's... Ahh never mind" he said waving his hand through the air,

"No, go on son, I think I'd like to hear this one" Harry said with a grin. James rolled his eyes and began to walk towards platform 9¾ when he heard his parents and Albus burst out laughing behind him. Matt and Scott caught up with him, both of them with a slight smile of their faces.

"Told you she was mental mate" Matt said, bumping James with his elbow.

"I should listen to you guys more often..."

As they all boarded the train, Ginny called out,  
"We'll see you all for Christmas! Write okay?" She said this more, James knew, to Lily and Albus,

"Stay out of trouble!" she added, James knew this was aimed at him, and he chuckled slightly

"Yeah Head Boy, stay outta trouble" Scott laughed, as they dragged their trunks while trying to find an empty compartment.

"Doubt it..." James grinned, "Crap I forgot I've got to go meet the other head at 12.."

"You've still got an hour mate, don't stress" Matt said, always the voice of reason he was...

"Looky hear fella's, I think we've got ourselves an O'Brian" James said grinning as they reached a compartment with someone they recognised. He tore the door open and yelled "OI!" at the sleeping figure, who sat bolt upright at the noise,

"Mate, you've got to stop doing that. Gonna give me a heart attack one of these days" Ben said standing up and greeting his comrades.

"You what?!" Ben asked, as James flicked him the badges,

"Bloody hell mate, Good work" Ben beamed at his old friend, James just smiled in return as he threw the badges back,

"James, It's 12 mate" Matt said checking his watch,

"Bollocks, I'll see you guys later" He said standing and running from the compartment, badges still in hand. The heads' carriage was all the way down the other end of the train, He dodged first years as the wandered the corridor, One of them Lily,

"James!"

"Hey Lil's" He said as he ran past, he jumped over someone's bag which had been left out in the hall, he turned around to assess the jump,  
_  
"Very agile of me"_James laughed to himself, though he probably should've been watching where he was going... He ran straight into someone, knocking them down as he fell. There was a slight scream and an 'oomph' as they hit the floor,

"Oh-crap,i'm-so-sorry-it's-just-i'm-late-and-i-wasnt-watching-where-i-was-going-are you okay?" He asked the figure,

"Get off me Potter" he knew that voice,

"Ahh Williams, So nice to see you" He grinned as he stood up, offering her his hand, which she neglected, standing up herself

"What are you late for?" She asked, "Receiving your twat of the year award today are we?" She laughed at her own joke, as annoying as James found it that she thought so little of him, he couldn't help but think that her laugh was cute.

"No, meeting actually, good one though... haven't heard that one before"

"What meeting?"

"Heads meeting" He said simply, shrugging

"Liar" she said glaring at him,

"I'm not lying" James said, holding up him badge as he pulled it out of his pocket; where it had been stashed as he was running

"That's says Quidditch captain Potter." She stated, folding her arms across her chest

"Oh, wrong one..." he said, holding up the other silver badge with the initials "HB"

"No..." she said to herself

"If you'll excuse me, I would like to go meet the Head Girl" he said, nodding at her as he began to walk away,

"You're looking at her"

If hearts could smile, James' was. He turned to look at her as she pulled out her shiny silver "HG" badge.  
_  
"Brilliant"_James thought, and entire year with Ellie Williams


	4. Chapter 4

The rest of the train ride went thoroughly uninterestingly; James had the official meeting with Williams and the prefects for the year, they sorted out who was doing patrol on what nights; Heads patrol Friday and Saturday nights from 10pm until midnight. Once the meeting was over James went back to the carriage where the boys had been playing exploding snap, and Matt was trying to replace one of his eyebrows by drawing it on...

As they waited for the first years to pile into the school, Professor McGonagall stood and addressed them;

"Welcome back" she said with a slight smile, "I would like to start off by congratulating Miss Eleanor Williams and Mister James Potter, on becoming Hogwarts Head Girl and Boy for this year, If you would please stand"

James stood slowly and looked around for Williams, she was further up the Gryffindor table than himself, and she didn't look like she was enjoying the attention, the school applauded and James sat down.

If there's one thing you should know about James Potter, it's that he doesn't like large amounts of attention. He'd prefer to be part of the background. This isn't to say he's shy, no not at all. But the fact that so many people know him, because of his father, often showed to be a little too much attention for his liking...

McGonagall continued her speech and James played with a loose thread on his robes, while he was vaguely paying attention. After a few moments the first years walked in, James could see Lily's auburn hair in the crowd, her face was spinning around as she took in the sights around her, her hazel eyes couldn't be any wider, looking up at the roof she noticed the sky, she pointed this out to a blonde boy who was standing next to her, who looked up in amazement as well. She said something to the boy and he shook his head. The group stopped as they reached the front of the hall, by this time, most of them were looking up at the roof, James couldn't help but look up too; it was reflecting the darkest sky James had seen up there, though against that dark was the purest shining stars, dotted all over the place; James could see why the first years were so absorbed in it, that he hardly noticed the hat's song.

The first years had jumped when they saw the hat sitting on a stool, had begun to sing. They were curious enough wondering what the hat's purpose was...

"Attica, Eliza" McGonagall read from the list, the first girl, Eliza stepped out from the group and sat down on the stood, she had pitch black hair and pale skin, she appeared to have a cool attitude about being sorted, which made James think someone had warned her of the hat; James and Albus had discussed at length telling Lily about the sorting process, but decided it would be much more exciting for her if she didn't know how it was done.

"HUFFLEPUFF!" the hat shouted, pulling James out of his thoughts,

Hufflepuff's entire table stood and applauded, cheering for the small girl, whilst a enormous smile spread across her face, when the noise died down, McGonagall read,

"Anderson, Eloise" The girl stepped up, her black hair cut into a small bob around her face,

"GRYFFINDOR!" The hat yelled, The Gryffindor table erupted in cheers, probably deafening the rest of the school, she joined the table sitting opposite James, next to Matt, James grinned at her and Matt clapped her on the back,

"Edwards, Michael" Michael stepped forward, shaking slightly, James remembered when he was being sorted, he was so nervous that he almost vomited; this boy was small, he had chocolate brown hair, a thin nose and a rather squared face,

"RAVENCLAW!" The hat yelled, Ravenclaw stood cheering him, he got off the stool and sat down at Ravenclaw table, until he heard the next name which was called,

"Edwards, Michelle" James wondered if the two were twins or if that was just coincidence... until she saw Michelle's face, she looked exactly like her brother, except with longer hair and her face was slightly rounder than his square one... Her brother had stood in anticipation.  
The hat took some deliberation when deciding which house to place Michelle...  
She closed her eyes, and the hat yelled  
"RAVENCLAW!"

She sighed noticeably as Ravenclaw stood to cheer again, she ran to her brother and they hugged, James smiled at this...

"Johns, Rowan" Rowan, this was the boy Lily had been talking to, blonde, he was slightly taller than the others, he had quite broad shoulders for an eleven year old, James noticed.

"GRYFFINDOR!" The table erupted once again, and Rowan sat himself next to Eloise, as the house continued clapping, he grinned

"Potter, Lily" the hall fell silent as the red head took her seat on the stool, James' eyes found Albus, they both looked at each other and then watched their sister sit nervously under the hat.  
What seemed like hours, was only seconds as James waited anxiously... he didn't realise that he was gripping his chair and his knuckles had turned white.

Lily grimaced in reaction to something the hat must have said to hear, but her face relaxed as the hat yelled

"GRYFFINDOR!"

The house exploded in cheers, James thought to himself that the school must be deaf by now, most of the house was standing, James looked at Albus and he was beaming as much as James was, Lily was running over to the house and she ran straight to James and James picked her up and hugged her, Albus came over and hugged Lily too, all three sat down as the cheers died.  
Simon Walters, Bronwyn Smith, Caitlin Franklin, Peter Forbes and Damien Elders were the other kids sorted into Gryffindor. James' stomach was going mental; he was starving, and on cue food appeared in front of them. Lily's eyes widened and James put his arm around her and gave her a slight hug. Lily couldn't stop beaming, and James just grinned at her,

"Welcome Kiddo" Ben said to her, winking

She grinned at him, and then became absorbed in a conversation with Rowan, James didn't notice what they were talking about though, because he looked up to see Ellie looking his way with a slight smile on her face, she noticed him looking and frowned, looking away.


	5. Chapter 5

**A/N: This story has gone through some alterations – mainly because the last time I wrote this chapter it was shit. So here goes again. If it's bad please let me know... Also I will be uploading another chapter asap after this one... Hopefully anyone who was invested in the story is still with me here... I know it's been a really long time! Thanks guys, here goes.**

James was sitting in class, Slughorn was rambling on about something, and James was staring at the back of Williams head. Her hair was pulled back into a braid, soft, shiny... James could just imagine how lovely it would feel to run his hands through it. She had just raised her hand and answered a question Slughorn had asked... smart, gorgeous... Some people just had it all. James had decided to not annoy her anymore, if she didn't want anything to do with him, then he figured that's what she wanted.

There was a moment that had been stuck in his mind for days,

_Walking side by side Ellie and James performed their Heads duties – on the lookout for any students out of bed. It was 1am, Ellie began to yawn._

"_You can go to bed if you like, I can finish here" James offered, avoiding eye __contact_

_She looked up at him, "Do you mind? I don't want to leave you on your own."_

"_It's fine, I don't mind. Go get some sleep" He smiled slightly at her,_

_She paused for a moment, studying his face, "Thanks." She got up on her tippy toes and planted a soft kiss on his cheek. James heart stopped and she turned to walk away, after a few steps she turned back to him._

"_I don't know what you've done with James – but tell him I'm sorry for being such a…" She trailed off as though searching for the right __word__,_

"…_such a what?" He urged her,_

"…_a bitch. You didn't deserve it. And I'm sorry" She smiled softly and walked away._

"Mr Potter."

"Mmm?"

"Would you like to pull yourself out of your daydream and join the class?"

James looked up to see not just Slughorn but the whole class – including one Ellie Williams – staring at him. He cleared his throat –

"Sorry Sir" he said, sitting up straight, as he did the bell rang for the end of class

"Saved by the bell Mr Potter, lets come to the next class a bit more focused shall we?"

"Yes Sir" he said as the class filed out and he packed up his books. He walked from the class to see Matt and Scott waiting for him.

"You alright mate?" Matt asked, nudging him with his elbow.

"Yeah, fine" he said staring ahead at Williams laughing with her friends – she was perfect. His mind wandered to one of those perfume ads on the TV where the pretty girl moves in slow motion, flicks her hair back and laughs flawlessly. James shook his head and came back to reality.

James sat by the fireplace in the common room, writing up some Quidditch plays and training sessions. The season started in a few months and James had scheduled trials for this coming Saturday.

"Jaaaaaamesssss!" a small voice called, pulling him away from his thoughts.

He looked around – the voice was Lily's, "Yeah Lil?"

"I can't find my Potions book" She said quietly, looking distressed

"Have you looked in your trunk?" he asked, yawning – he hadn't been sleeping well with all that was going on – school, duties, quidditch season looming and Ellie Williams, _Stupid Ellie – GET OUT OF MY HEAD!_

"Yes"

"Under your bed?"

"Yes"

"In your bag?"

"Yes!"

"In your sheets? Did you fall asleep reading last night?"

"… Yes! Thank you!" She exclaimed as she ran towards the girls staircase, before she got there she turned around and ran back to James, kissed him on the cheek and scurried off again. James smiled.

"You're good with her – not many brothers care like you do" a voice from across the empty common room said. He scanned to see who it was that was talking to him, Williams. _Damn it Williams – I go five seconds without thinking about you and you show up. Really?_

"Well it's easy to care when you love someone" He said before closing his book and standing up – smiling and walking up the boys staircase, he was tired and didn't feel like having to pretend not to care about Williams.

"Goodnight, James." She said, there was something in her voice that James had never heard before, her voice was soft, and she said it so quietly that James wasn't sure that he had heart it, She had called him James. James heart was leaping inside his chest. He turned around to face her from the stairway, he smiled softly

"Goodnight, Ellie" And he made his way up the stairs, he couldn't calm his heart beating wildly. _She called me James. _


	6. Chapter 6

James was still having sleeping issues. With NEWTs looming, Quidditch and having his heads duties it was all a bit much. He would get to sleep, then remember something he needed to do, or have an idea, or just downright couldn't sleep from worry. He kept a notebook next to his bed to write down things he remembered. But this morning he woke up at 4am, purely because of the incident from the night before with Ellie Williams. He was trying not to overanalyse it but he wasn't succeeding.

He pulled his sheets off of him, pulled on a pair of running shorts and shoes and jogged down the boy's stairway, if he couldn't sleep, he may as well get some exercise. Once he made it outside, the cool fresh air hit him like a brick, and he started to run. The cold cleared his mind. But was a shock to his nose and throat. He thought of Soph, and how he hadn't heard from her in a while – telling himself to owl her later today. His muscles started to burn, and he was only a quarter of the way around the Black lake. The grass was moist and soft, it was a perfect morning.

James always loved a run to clear his mind. It always made everything else seem trivial – even though he knew once his run was over he would go back to worrying, go back to trying to balance everything, to trying to deal with it all on his own. He didn't mind the pressure though, but a major flaw few people know about James Potter is that his worst fear is disappointing people; anyone really, friends, teachers, especially his family. That's why he succeeds in almost everything he does, his grades where some of the best in the year and he's one of the best chasers the Gryffindor side has ever seen.

James continued to run; he was almost done his lap of the lake. He pushed harder and harder, his breath was short and fast, despite the cold, sweat was dripping down his forehead, his muscles burnt and his hair was sticking to his face. As he reached where he had begun his run, he collapsed into the grass. He closed his eyes, and let his breath resume to normal. He was comfortable, at peace with himself for the first time in a while.

"James?"

James opened his eyes, but couldn't bring himself to sit up; he looked to his left to see her. Ellie. She was in a pair of running shorts, a tank top and her running shoes. And James couldn't help but think how amazing she looked, he always thought she looked incredible, but her school uniform just did not do her justice.

"Morning" James said, he put his hands behind his head; Ellie smiled and sat down next to him, which surprised him.

"Morning" She responded, she looked out over the lake.

They sat in silence for a while. It wasn't an uncomfortable silence though, but James didn't want to be the one to break it.

"I think we should have a ball for Halloween" She said suddenly.

"A ball?" James sat up and turned to her

"Yeah, everyone wears costumes and dances and -"

"Sounds good" James interrupted, she smiled, "We'll organise a meeting with McGonagall and get her to approve it."

She smiled again; James couldn't help but notice how beautiful she was when she smiled. He wished he got to see it more often. He smiled back.

"Oh Trials are on Saturday by the way, I'm putting the notice on the board today – We're more or less keeping the team the same and replacing last year's 7th years" James said, looking out over the lake.

"I don't think I'm playing this season." She said quietly,

"What?!" James said, turning quickly to face her, she was looking out over the lake as James just was.

"Well it's just with everything, NEWTs and duties I just don't think I could deal with Quidditch on top, I'm not like you James, I can't juggle everything easily. Plus I'm sure there are plenty of other Seekers better than me."

James just stared at her, his mouth open slightly and frowning slightly –

"Are you serious?"

She just looked at him, and nodded. What James did next was a shock to both of them, he laughed.

"You think I juggle things easily? In the past week Ellie I've had max 10 hours sleep, I have a list of things I need to do that is 4 full pages long, I don't remember the last time I ate a full meal without running off to do something I had forgotten to do and I haven't even had time to talk to my best friend. I am not juggling easily. And as for other Seekers? That's bullshit and you know it. The team needs you. You can't just bail on them."

She continued to stare at him, "Let me help for once."

"What are you talking about?"

"You take too much of the responsibility, you do realise that don't you?"

"I do what's necessary."

"No, you do what's necessary and then you do more. You go beyond above and beyond James."

She put her hand on his, "You don't have to do everything on your own."

Her touch sent tingles through his body; He looked into her eyes, warm and inviting. She smiled, and stood up,

"I'll see you later" and she took off on a jog around the lake. James just stared after her. Maybe he had been doing more than necessary.

**A/N: please leave a review with any thoughts/ideas/comments :)**


	7. Chapter 7

The next month passed by in a blur, James had successfully selected and trained new team members, it was a gruelling couple of weeks as nobody he saw at trials was up to the Gryffindor standard, but eventually he settled on their new chaser; Katie Smith – a fifth year, she was small and agile, but not very good with the quaffle, the new beater – sixth year Ferris Canton was a great flier but useless with the bat. These two had been the best of the lot – with the rest being kept on in the squad as reserve players, in case of the likely event of an injury. James and Scott had trained Katie up to be a pretty good chaser over the past 4 weeks, and Ben had taught Ferris all he knew about being a Beater. The rest of the new squad had been taken through weeks of fitness training with Ellie and Albus. James was proud of all they'd achieved – They'd taken a sorry bunch of players and turn them into potential champions, James' plan was to not just set Gryffindor up for a win this season, but for seasons to come as well.

James, Albus, Scott and Ben all walked back up to the castle after training, they passed a ground of girls by the lake, which were looking at the boys and giggling. James laughed and kept walking – though he noticed the boys were no longer with him. He turned around to see them sitting with the girls. James rolled his eyes, laughing, and continued the walk up to the castle.

"James!" He heard from behind him, he turned to see Ellie walking towards him. He waited for her to reach him, she smiled and said,

"Not going down to the lake with the boys then?"

He laughed and shook his head. "Are you excited about tonight?" he asked her

"Oh yes, I just hope everyone else enjoys it"

"After all the effort we've put in, they bloody better enjoy it... Want to go have a last look at the hall?" James said, Ellie nodded – and they made their way to the Great Hall.

Of course today was Halloween, meaning that tonight was the night of the Ball. James and Ellie had spent weeks organising music, food and decorations – and the hard work had paid off, the Hall was beautiful. They had McGonagall help them charm the ceiling to a black night sky, littered with bright stars. They had moved the house tables to the edges of the Hall for food and drinks to be stationed, a stage for the band 'The Banshee Sisters' was where the Staff table usually sits at the end of the hall and a dance floor was in front of the stage. The two had set up many tables of 6 by the entrance of the hall, everything was covered in silver and orange, silver candles floated about 2 meters above James' head, the food was still being prepared in the kitchen so the tables were empty, but Ellie and James had requested almost every kind of food and sweets possible, and numerous drinks; butterbeer, pumpkin juice among others.

The room sparkled, and the sun was still up. James had a good feeling about tonight.

"It's wonderful" Ellie said,

"It really is" James agreed.

They took one last look at their work and headed back to the common room. The hall had been off limits to students all day, so it would be a surprise for this evening. Ellie and James had made a condition of entry for tonight that you had to be in costume, no costume... no entry. This had earned some complaints from some third and fourth years who thought they were too cool for costumes.

They reached the common room, and Ellie's friend Ashley Hastings spotted her,

"Ellie! C'mon we have to get ready!"

"It's 5 o'clock, The Ball isn't until 7.30?" James questioned,

"Exactly!" Ashley responded, quiet clearly holding back from saying 'Duh'. She grabbed Ellie's arm and dragged her up the girl's stairs, James laughed and mumbled, "Girls" and he went upstairs to see if the boys had returned from the lake.

He reached the room to see only Matt, on his bed reading. Matt didn't play Quidditch, he enjoyed the game but he had injured himself as a kid after falling off his broom, and could never bring himself to go much higher than 20-30 feet off the ground. He played in the summer with the rest of the boys, but never played at school.

"Hey mate" James said, flopping onto his own bed.

"Hey" Matt said, closing his book and sitting up, "How was training?"

"Good, I think we might have finally gotten somewhere with the new recruits" James grinned.

Matt smiled, but James could tell something was wrong.

"You okay mate?"

Matt looked at his friend, and realised there was no point lying,

"Holly." He said, shrugging and lying back down on his bed

"Just ask her out already dickhead!" James said, lobbing a pillow at Matt. At that point, Scott and Ben had returned from the Lake,

"Oh here we go, how'd you fellas get on then?"

"Phwoar those girls are fit" Ben said with a cheeky grin, "6th years"

"Dibs on Blondie!" Scott said, shoving Ben slightly,

"Fine by me, had my eyes on the brunette anyway" Ben said, still grinning. Matt and James rolled their eyes.

"By the way fellas, I have a way to kill a few hours before tonight's festivities" Scott said, opening his trunk and digging around, before pulling out a large silver bottle.

An hour and a half later the boys had demolished the better part of the silver bottle of Firewhisky, playing a muggle drinking game Ben had learnt from his neighbour. A game called 'quarters' in which you have to bounce a coin into a glass, whoever gets the coin in gets to choose who drinks. It was James' turn, he bounced a sickle off the ground and it hit the rim of the glass.

"Damn it!"

"Unlucky mate, what's that... the 9th one in a row" Ben asked as James passed him the coin and the glass

"Piss off"

The boys laughed as Ben got the coin in, and then once again chose James to drink.

There was a knock at the door as James was taking a swig from the bottle.

"Come in!" James called rather loudly, the door opened and there stood Ellie, dressed in a short lime green dress and green flats to match, her hair was up in a bun and she had white wings attached to her back.

"James, why aren't you ready? It's six thirty." She asked, but then saw the situation in front of her. Sighed and said, "You lot, have showers and sort yourselves out. Make sure you're dressed and ready by quarter past seven. James you and I have to be down at the hall by then so hurry up."

"Okay okay, I'm going" He laughed, passing the bottle to Matt he stood up... or tried to. He stumbled slightly and fell onto the nearest bedpost, holding himself up, he was grinning from ear to ear.

"Come here" Ellie said, walking over to him and putting his arm over his shoulder, and walked him into the bathroom. "Shower." She said. James smiled and sat himself up on the counter. "James Potter, shower" she said with a slight smile, she couldn't help but think he looked adorable. The door shut behind her. She could hear the boys laughing on the other side of the door.

"Really mature." She called, trying to twist the door knob, to no luck however. She sighed.

"You look beautiful" James said from his seat on the counter. It wasn't the firewhisky talking, she really did look gorgeous. She had turned to face him. A blush rose in her cheeks. James stood up, and walked towards her, she looked nervous but smiled. James reached into the shower and turned the tap. He smiled. Things were still spinning. Ellie tried the door again; it seemed they had given up. She opened the door just as James was taking off his shirt,

"Don't drown" She said to him, he laughed as she shut the door. She turned to face Ben, Matt and Scott.

"I'm going to come back at 7, you guys better be ready by then" she said, "Oh and Matt – Ask Holly out already."

"Did James tell you to say that?!" He asked as she was almost out the door,

"No, Holly did."

Once James was out of the shower he was could tell he was still pretty drunk, but he was at least able to get dressed and ready no problem. He pulled his costume on. He'd lost a bet with the boys and been made to wear a Peter Pan costume, a character from a muggle children's story, but this had required him to wear tights for this evening.

"So, on a scale of 1 to flaming, exactly how gay do I look?" James asked,

"I'd say about a nine" Ben laughed as he pulled his Superman cape on.

"Oi, you're in tights too mate" James retorted, he looked around, in fact they all were; Ben was going as Superman, Scott as Batman and Matt as Spiderman – They'd gone for the hero's theme.

"Yes, but yours is the least masculine"

"I hate you guys so much" The door opened again to reveal Ellie.

"God, Knock much Williams?" Scott asked, pulling his pants up.

"Sorry boys – good to see you're all ready. Good to go James?" She asked

"Mmmhmm" James said, smiling. "See you guys down there"

The pair walked down to the Great Hall, James stumbling every so often and being caught by Ellie.

"You do realise our costumes match don't you?" She asked him out of the blue as the descended the stairs to the entrance hall.

"They do?" He said, taking a step back to look her over. She was right, he hadn't noticed before – she was Tinkerbelle, and he was Peter Pan. He grinned. "Have I told you that you look beautiful?"

"Once already, yes" she laughed and continued to walk down the stairs. "We have to meet with McGonagall, act sober"

"You must think I'm an idiot" James said, grabbing her arm, "I'm sorry."

"For?"

"Being irresponsible"

"Nobody is perfect James; Even the Head Boy has his flaws. Plus it's okay, tonight's a party." She smiled.

"Ahh Mister Potter, Miss Williams – How lovely to see you, and in matching costumes nonetheless!" The headmistress called. They ran through the night's proceedings, emergency procedures, and took one last look over the hall, the food and drinks were all in place, by the time they were finished, most of the school had gathered outside the hall. James was thankful that Ellie took over the welcome speech. He wasn't really listening, but more looking out over the crowd. He saw Albus dressed as a dragon trainer and later spotted Lily, dressed as pirate.

"...So on behalf both of us please, enjoy the night!" He caught the end of Ellie's welcome and the students cheered, and as they opened the doors, a chorus of 'oohs' and 'ahhs' ensued as they all piled into the Hall. James and Ellie stood at the back of the hall and watched as everyone began dancing and eating and celebrating. Ben jumped up onto the stage after the band's first song and said,

"Before we get this all going, how about three cheers for our wonderful head girl and boy?" The school responded with gusto after each one of Ben's 'Hip Hip's. James and Ellie grinned. James looked over to his left to see Matt and Holly Anderson, Ellie's friend and roommate and the girl Matt was crushing on holding hands.

"Finally" Ellie said, "I'm gonna go get a drink, I'll see you later" she said, smiling at James.

"No worries" James said, he spotted Lily dancing with Rowan. He decided to go find the guys. He decided not to worry about Quidditch or NEWTS for one night. He was just going to enjoy his night. He looked over to see Ellie laughing with the girls as it seemed like they were teasing or congratulating Holly, he smiled. He spotted the boys,

"Fellas, it appears we have a real Casanova on our hands here" James said, slapping his hand on Matt's shoulder. Matt was grinning from ear to ear.

"Celebratory drinks boys?" Scott said, pulling out a flask containing the remaining firewhisky. They all grinned cheekily. It was going to be an interesting night.

**A/N: Longest chapter yet... Let me know! Ideas/Thoughts/Comments!? Thanks lovely readers - please review!**


	8. Chapter 8

James woke the next morning with a pounding headache and little recollection of the night's events,  
He groaned and reached around on his side table for a glass of water, he found the glass but no water. He groaned again but realised where he was – he grabbed his wand and muttered through his dry throat "Aguamenti" the glass filled with beautiful clear water which James drank in a second, he refilled it again and again until his mouth no longer tasted of residual firewhisky. It was early, James knew this much, he wondered if he could make it from his bed to the Heads common room without being disturbed.

The Heads common room; a perk of being Head Boy or Girl was having access to the Heads common room – a perk that James so far hadn't taken much advantage of. He preferred the Gryffindor common room where he could see people he knew, hang out with his friends and family and the rest of Gryffindor house. However James could see its use today, he could sleep/rest off his hangover and try to come to some understanding of what took place in the gaps in his memory from last night.

James mustered the strength to stand; he grabbed a shirt from his trunk and made his way down the stairs and out the portrait hole, the Heads common room was on the floor above the entrance to Gryffindor tower, he took off up the stairs, trying to get there before they changed, he was lucky, he stepped off and the staircase began to shift. He looked up at the painting of Albus Dumbledore, his brother's namesake and one of the best Headmasters Hogwarts had ever seen, he had two frames at Hogwarts, one to guard the Heads common room, and the other in the Headmistresses office.

"Morning Sir" James said,

"Good morning Mister Potter" he said, before swinging open letting James through. Once inside the common room, James collapsed in a heap onto the couch. He groaned as his head throbbed.

"I thought I might see you here today" he heard from the other couch, he hadn't even seen her when he came in.

"Morning" he groaned into a couch pillow. She laughed lightly,

"Feeling a bit sorry for yourself I assume?" to which James merely replied with a mumbled _'mmhmm'. _He rolled over and sat up,

"What are you doing here anyway?" 

"I come here a lot... Usually when I can't sleep or when I just need some quiet. So, did you enjoy last night?"

"If I knew, I would tell you" James mumbled, She laughed – even in his current state the sound of her laugh was like magic.

"Would you like me recap for you?" She laughed again as he nodded, quite pathetically, "You and the boys polished off that flask of firewhisky, Matt and Holly got together-"

"Yeah I remember that bit" James said, smiling – he was happy for the two of them, they'd been dancing around each other for years.

"- Ben and Scott were preying on sixth years"

"Of course they were" James laughed, she laughed with him – James couldn't help but feel how nice the moment was, the two of them laughing like old friends.

"Everyone was dismissed at midnight and we sent everyone but the 7th years to bed and we all played that 'quarters' game... speaking of which if I'm being honest here – you're awful at"

"I know..."

"Then you passed out on the couch and the boys took you upstairs. And that's pretty much it."

"So I didn't do anything embarrassing or say anything to anyone that I shouldn't have?" James asked her, she shook her head, "Oh thank god" She smiled. There was however something she wasn't telling James.

"_I think our only close game this season will be Slytherin – they've got some quick fliers but I think after all the training we've had and will continue to have they'll be a cinch"_

"_Do you want to go for a walk James?" Ellie asked, James – confused for a second, nodded. As they walked, neither of them spoke._

"_Is everything alright Ellie?"_

"_Of course" she replied, they'd reached the courtyard and Ellie sat down on a stone bench. James sat next to her; he wobbled a bit as he sat. She knew telling him now would mean the likelihood of him not remembering._

"_This year's been strange for me James-"_

"_Yeah everyone always said seventh year was-"_

"_Just, shut up for a second will you?" She laughed nervously; he pretended to zip his lips. "I want to apologise for how I treated you. I was a jerk and you didn't deserve it. All these years instead of shutting you down I should have given you a chance; I can see now who you are. You're kind and smart and funny. But most of all you're not at all the self-centred, egotistical twat I thought you were." She locked her fingers in with his and he stared at their intertwined hands. He placed his other hand on her cheek and looked into her eyes. He leaned in slowly, closing his eyes as she did; she could smell the firewhisky on his breath but didn't care. Their noses brushed and Ellie's breath was caught in her throat. She could feel the heat coming off of his body. _

"_James...Ellie, they want you to dismiss the students!" James' brother Albus called from the doorway. James pulled away; Ellie couldn't help but feel a pang of rejection. _

"_This has to be perfect." James said before standing up and walking back inside. _

"Urrgghhh I feel like death" James groaned from the couch, Ellie stood up and grabbed a glass from the kitchenette in the corner of the room – filled it with tomato juice and pickle juice from the fridge, she mumbled something as she waved her wand across the top of the glass.

"Here, drink this" she said, handing it to James, who smelt it and said "Are you trying to kill me?"

Ellie laughed, "Just drink it. And make sure you finish it." James took a deep breath, blocked his nose and drank the whole glass in one go. The nausea he was feeling began to subside, as did his throbbing headache. "Have I ever told you that you're the best? What even was that?"

"It's a secret family recipe... Better?"

"Much" he smiled up at her from his position on the couch. He was still exhausted, but didn't quite feel so ill. James was relieved he hadn't made too much of an ass of himself last night. And as far as he could remember – he'd had a really good night.

**A/N: I don't know how I feel about this chapter...**


	9. Chapter 9

James had spent nearly every moment he wasn't in class, training or doing rounds – In the library. He had done his entire Potions essay which wasn't due for 2 weeks, his transfiguration practice, defence against the dark arts study and Herbology and Charms essays. Gryffindor had beaten Ravenclaw on Saturday and he had even missed the celebrations as he'd spent the night in the library studying. James was so engulfed in working that he didn't even notice his own brother sit down across from him.

"You know, it's because of you that mum and dad have such high standard" Albus said, picking up one of James' essays. James laughed as he pushed his Charms textbook aside. "Take a break once in a while mate, I haven't seen you at any meals all week"

"I've been eating" James answered, defensively.

"That's not what I said."

"Al, I need to do well. Auror training is hard to qualify for; I have to at least get Exceeds Expectations to even be consid-"

"And as I remember, you got all O's for your OWLs." James started to respond but Al threw a bread roll at him. "Eat something. You missed dinner again."

"Cheers" James said, taking a bite from the roll. He yawned, which of course did not go unnoticed by Albus.

"Have you been sleeping much?" Al asked, concerned

"I thought worry about siblings was my job?" James said, covering the yawn with his hand.

"It's never been your job James, just something you did. And it works both ways. You can't just run yourself into the ground like this."

"It's important."

"What's due next week that you haven't done already?"

"Nothing, this is all extra study-"

"Then you're done for the night – It's only 8.30, go get some food from the kitchen, go hang out with the boys and get some sleep." Albus said, packing up James' books into a pile for him. "Oh, and find Lily too. She's worried as well."

James smiled as he piled his books into his bag. "You lot need to not worry so much"

"You need to stop giving us a reason to worry." Al laughed. The pair walked back to the common room discussing their victory from Saturday's game.

James was awoken the next morning by Scott throwing a pillow on his face, saying "It's 8 o'clock mate. Running late?" to which James groaned into his pillow, "I have a free this morning" and yet he was still dragged out of bed by his legs,  
"Breakfast!" Ben shouted, jumping around like a 3 year old, James threw a nearby book at Ben  
"How is it possible that you're in such a good mood?" James grumbled standing up and pulling on his uniform.  
"Because I don't spend my whole evening in the library or patrolling" Ben laughed, putting his tie on.  
James looked at him for a moment and said, "Touché" he then glanced out the window towards the lake, where he saw Ellie sitting alone. He frowned slightly, before saying,

"I'm gonna go for a walk boys, I'll see you in Charms"  
"No breakfast?" Ben asked, slightly disappointed.  
"No hungry" James said, smiling slightly as he walked out of the dorm and out of the common room, his walk turned into a slight jog.

Ellie sat by the lake, she was supposed to be in Ancient Runes – but from the morning's events she had decided to give it a miss, she held the letter in her hands, unsure of how to respond. She sat facing the water and the tears had stained her cheeks. Gryffindor had won their first match against Ravenclaw on Saturday but she no longer felt happy about it.

"Williams? What are you doing out here?" James said, sitting next to her and then noticing her tears, "Ellie, is something the matter?" he asked, concerned. She was unable to speak. She just nodded, passing him the letter. He stared at her for a moment, before taking the piece of parchment from her hands, reading over it.

_My dearest Ellie, _

_There's no easy way to say what I need to say, so I am just going to come out and say it – Your mother left. She said there was nothing left between her and I, and she packed her bag and left. I am so sorry, this is all my fault. If only I had been around more, paid her more attention... I've gone to see your Uncle in Spain, you are welcome to join me for Christmas, but I understand if you won't. You have always and will always been the one thing I love with my whole heart._

_All my love,  
Dad. _

James had no words, he stared up at her sadly and she merely shrugged, tears streaming down her face once again. He'd never seen her cry... She was usually so strong and stoic. He put his arm around her and pulled her into a hug, she cried into his chest, her cheeks burning from embarrassment that he had found her like this but part of her didn't care.

"It's her loss" was all James said, and for that she was thankful.

**A/N: Sorry this chapters so short... thoughts?**


	10. Chapter 10

James sat on the floor in front of the fireplace in the Heads common room. The head of his father in the flames, James' head was in his hands.

"You need to relax, son" Harry Potter said softly, "After we got Al's letter, you're mother and I have been worried about you"

"Dad I'm fine" James said, shaking his head – Albus and Lily had ratted him out, telling his parents about his lack of sleep, not being at meals, training and studying too hard, "This is just what 7th year is like..."

"That's not how I remember 7th year." Harry said simply,

"Yes that's because you spent 7th year finding horcruxes, Dad." James said, rolling his eyes - this was ignored by Harry.

"Come home for Christmas, will you? Give yourself a break kid" Harry said hopefully.

"I've got work to do though, Dad-" James started, but Harry cut him off.

"It wasn't a question." He said shortly, James knew the argument was futile – sure, Ginny Potter was the short tempered one of his parents, but James knew never to argue with Harry; after all, the man had defeated the darkest wizard of all time.

"Okay okay, I'll come home for Christmas" James agreed quietly, Harry frowned slightly – he was looking over James' shoulder, James turned to see Ellie having just walked into the common room,

"Hi" She said quietly, before noticing the fire – "Oh, sorry" she said quickly, "I just left my book in here last night"

"It's okay" James said smiling, noticing the book she was looking for was on the table behind him, she leant down and picked it up, "You okay?" James asked softly, she nodded, "Sorry I interrupted" she said, leaving the room quickly, James smiled and turned back to the fireplace.

"Who was that?" Harry asked James,

"Ellie Williams" James smiled subconsciously, "She's Head Girl"

"Is that so? She's pretty... Are you two...?" Harry probed, smirking slightly

"No!" James said quickly, waving his hands in front of himself "She doesn't like me like that..."

"But you like her... like that?" Harry asked, knowingly raising an eyebrow

James frowned, "Sod off, Dad"

Harry laughed, "I'm not as clueless as you think I am, mate."

"Like I said, she doesn't like me like that..." James said, shaking his head, Harry said, "Fine fine, subject dropped. Look I better go mate, your mum's come up with some strange concoction for dinner" he shuddered, and in the background James could hear Ginny call, "_Keep talking like that and you won't get_ anything _for dinner_!" James laughed, "I'll see you at Christmas"

"See you then, remember – try and relax alright?" Harry said, before smiling and his head disappearing from the flames.

James sat there for a moment longer, debating whether or not to go back to the Gryffindor tower – he glanced around the common room – noticing a piece of parchment underneath one of the couches, he reached over and pulled it out, he frowned at the folded parchment, it wasn't his – it must be Ellie's, _'Probably homework or something, surely she'd want it back'_ he opened the parchment, as soon as he did he wished he hadn't. It was a letter, or it was supposed to be.

_Dad,_

The sentences had been crossed out, along with the others, but James could still make out the words:

_I won't be coming to Spain. _

_I don't want to come home._

_I don't want to see you._

_I'm staying at Hogwarts this Christmas. _

The last sentence was the only one that hadn't been crossed out -

_She doesn't love me, she never did... Did she?_

_Ellie._

James swallowed hard, he couldn't even begin to imagine what she was going through – He got up, stashing the letter in his pocket, he took off back towards the Gyrffindor tower, unsure if she was even going to be there, or what he would say when he got there, but he knew he had to see her. He muttered the password to the fat lady and she swung open, letting him through, he rushed in, looking around. It was later than he thought, the common room was almost empty – he spotted her brown ponytail over the back of the couch nearest the fire.

"Ellie" He called, she spun around,

"Oh, it's you" she said quietly, smiling slightly, he noticed as he joined her on the couch, that her book sat closed next to her, her knee's pulled into her chest.

"How are you?" He asked, sitting down – glancing over at her,

"Fine" she responded quietly, he paused,

"How are you, really?" he asked, taking the parchment from his pocket, passing it to her.

She frowned, opening the parchment, she swallowed as she realised what it was. She closed her eyes and shrugged. James paused before he spoke,

"Stay with us for Christmas" He said quickly, looking up at her, examining her face, she looked taken aback slightly,

"No, James – you don't have to..."

"I know I don't. But you can't stay here on your own over the holidays" He said quietly, she smiled slightly to herself

She started to say something else but James interrupted, "No, it's done. You'll stay with us" He said, standing up, he smiled at her, "Goodnight Ellie"

"Goodnight, James" She said quietly. He walked off, smiling to himself, towards the boys staircase as she called, "James?"

He spun around, "Yeah?" and from her position on the couch, she tore her eyes away from her knees and looked up at him, "Thank you" she said quietly.

She watched him leave, looking back towards the parchment in her hand, she thought to herself, _'Christmas with the Potters... Well it sure beats spending it alone' _and she smiled, throwing the parchment into the roaring fire not far from her, and watching it shrink into nothing.


	11. Chapter 11

As the Potter family clambered out of the car, Lily hanging from James' back, James opened Ellie's door for her;

"You didn't have to do that" She smiled, getting out of the car,

"James is a gentlemen" Lily laughed from her brothers back, James laughed with her,

"What she said" he smiled. He looked over at his family home, the layer of snow covering the house and garden made it look even more magical than he remembered. Ellie stared up at the house with wide eyes, "It's beautiful" she said quietly,

"Thank you dear" Ginny said as she too climbed out of the front seat of the car, Ginny looped her arm in Ellie's and took hold of Lily's hand as James put Lily down on the pavement, Ginny took the girls inside and Harry, James and Albus pulled the trunks from the boot of the car. Al whispered to him,  
"How did you get her to agree to this?"

"Not what you think" James said, "She wasn't going home for Christmas, was a friendly thing to do... that's all..." he whispered back.

"Come off it." Harry said, nudging his son, "You're happy she's here" He finished, picking up two of the trunks and dragging them up the pathway, James narrowed his eyes after his father. Albus laughing, James called out as he and Albus picked up the remaining trunks and followed their father inside,

"I never said I wasn't!" as they entered the front door, James instantly felt more relaxed, he could smell Ginny's cookies from the oven, James and Albus dropped the trunks and ran for the kitchen, Harry just laughed; It was the same every Christmas. As the boys ran into the kitchen, Ginny was giving Ellie the tour – noticing the boys she shouted,

"They aren't ready yet!" Albus and James pulling open the oven and trying to remove some of the cookies from the tray, James gave Al a shove away with his leg, to which Albus retaliated with by pushing him back,

"Careful!" Ginny

"Ouch!" James said, retracting his arm from the oven, a red mark burnt on his arm, cookie in hand.

"I told so –" Ginny stared, but James laughed, shoving the cookie in his mouth, which he instantly regretted, his tongue and inside of his mouth was burning, "'Ot! 'Ot" James exclaimed, fanning his mouth, the pain from the burn on his arms totally off his mind, yet he refused to spit out the cookie – he swallowed it, felt it burn down his throat and he ran for the tap, turning it on and placing his mouth right under the flow of the water.

Ginny shook her head, "Every year..."

Ellie laughed at the brothers, she had been at the Potter home for a total of 2 minutes and she already knew she loved it here. It was so homey, not like her house... The house was actually a home. She loved her father but he wasn't home often, and her mother – well... now her mother...

"What are your parents doing for Christmas without you, dear?" Ginny said kindly, turning away from her idiotic sons.

"Mum – "James interjected, trying to stop her from asking, shaking his hands in front of him.

"No, James it's okay" Ellie smiled softly, "My mum recently left us and my dad is spending the holidays with his brother in Spain." Ginny glanced over at James, realising why he had tried to stop her, looking sadly back at Ellie she pulled her into a hug.

"I'm so sorry, dear." Ellie saw over Ginny's shoulder James with his hands in his hair. He didn't know what to do, he had tried not to mention it, unsure of whether she wanted to talk about it or ignore it... And here was his mother... probably making it worse. James hadn't heard it, but as Ginny hugged her, she said to Ellie, "You're always welcome here, dear – Any friend of James' is a friend of ours"

Ellie hugged her back, "Thank you, Mrs. Potter" as she looked over at James, his face drenched in concern. _Was James her friend? Or was he something... much more confusing?_

There was something about Ginny's hug that made Ellie warm. Made her feel... home. Ellie cringed internally at the thought of how Christmas had been in the past years – sure her family had been fine as she grew up – but her mother was a muggle. The whole magic thing made her tense from the start, and then when Ellie got her letter things changed. Their house was cold and unwelcoming – nothing like the Potter house. Her mother's hugs had been hollow – nothing like Mrs. Potters.

"Please, call me Ginny" she said, pulling away from the hug, "James, love, why don't you give Ellie the tour?" James smiled; he nodded to the doorway of the kitchen, signally for Ellie to come with him. As they left the kitchen he ran his hand through his hair nervously,

"I'm sorry about that" he said quietly,

"It's okay" she smiled, part of her was coming to terms with it. Her mother wasn't happy in their world. But she had always thought that her mother was happy with them, regardless of what they were. She thought of her dad, and how he must be feeling. As they walked across the hallways James pointed doors out, "So that was the kitchen, that door there goes to the backyard, that's mum and dad's office, library -" But he was cut off by the front door opening,

"Potter!" James looked over to the door; Sophia was standing in the doorway in a pair of running shorts and a singlet, her hair in her usual ponytail.

"Peterson!" He yelled back at the girl in the doorway. She took a few steps into the house and hugged James, pulling away she slapped him on the side of the head, "Thanks for all your letters" she said sarcastically.

"I'm sorry!" he laughed, "Things have been hectic so far this year" he said throwing his hands up in defeat.

"Yeah I know, Al wrote me and told me" She grinned, James sighed,

"Merlin, who didn't he rat me out to?" James said rolling his eyes.

Ellie watched the two, _Of course he has a girlfriend, I'd been naïve to expect him not to..._ she thought to herself, she then shook her head; _Since when do I care if James Potter is single or not?!_

"Sorry, Ellie-" James said, looking over at Ellie and noticing her facial expression, "This is Sophia, Sophia – Ellie" James said, introducing the girls.

"Ah, finally!" Sophia said, extending her tan hand to Ellie, who shook it gently, "Heard enough about you" she laughed, which stopped suddenly as she saw James' glare.

"Really?" Ellie said, looking up at James curiously, he shook his head,

"One thing you should know about Sophia, is that she is full of shit" James grinned, pushing Sophia playfully. Sophia laughed,

"Anyways, I'm gonna head home – was on a run when I saw the car. Knew you'd be home" She grinned, "I'll be back for dinner though, As long as that's okay, Ginny?" She called into the kitchen.

"Always love!" Ginny called back lovingly. And with that Sophia jogged out into the snow again, taking off down the path. James shook his head, mumbling "Nutter". She was the only person he knew who ran in the snow. She loved it, even though on more than one occasions she's almost gotten frostbite.

"So she's your...?" Ellie asked, prying slightly – she couldn't help it, she wanted to know.

"Best friend" James responded slowly, his eyebrows raised. Her mouth formed an 'O' and she nodded slowly, the corners of her mouth twitching slightly, James couldn't help but grin. She caught his grin and blushed.

"Come on, I'll show you upstairs" James smiled, nudging her slightly. He walked up the stairs, her following closely behind. "That's mum and dad's room, guest room, Lily's room, guest room, Albus' room, guest room, guest room." He said, Ellie nodded – they really had a lot of spare room in this house, he noticed the look on her face, laughing he said,

"We have a lot of cousins" he explained, "And the boys are here pretty often" He grinned, she nodded, she always wondered what a big family would be like. She smiled – she was kind of jealous of James, he had everything – the wonderful house, wonderful family.

"And this is your room" he said, opening a door at the end of the hall, "It's the nicest one" He said, shrugging slightly. She looked in, he was right – it was lovely, painted white the room had a large window, that looked over the snow covered backyard, even with the snow there was still light pouring into the room – it had a wall filled with books, a desk with a mirror, and a large queen sized bed with crisp white sheets in the centre of the room, with lovely paintings decorating the walls.

"It's wonderful" She said quietly, turning to him – she noticed another door.

"What's that room?" She asked, nodding towards the door, he looked around,

"Oh, that's my room" he said smiling, she didn't know what possessed her to ask, but she did anyway,

"May I see it?"

"You want to see my room?" he asked, in slight disbelief. She nodded slowly, "Uh, sure" he laughed nervously, he leaned over and opened the door. She took a step towards the door, looking it. It was as she imagined it, not that she would ever admit to having imagined what his room looked like..

His walls too were white, but his were lined with photos; of him and the boys, the Quidditch team, his family, his brother and sister, some featuring Sophia. Also pinned to the walls was numerous 'GRYFFINDOR' flags and banners, his bed was covered in scarlet red sheets, matching his flags, 3 brooms sat in the corner of his room, he had draws which had been overfilled and he had clearly tried to force them closed, as socks and shirts stuck out the top and sides, his cupboard door open with clothes spilling out onto the floor, and a guitar lying on the floor by the end of his bed. It was teenage boys room, nothing more, nothing less. James watched her as she looked over his room, he leant on the doorframe, his arms folded in front of him... thinking he probably should have done a better job of cleaning before he left for Hogwarts in September...She smiled, turning to him she asked,

"You play guitar?"

He shrugged, "Mum and Dad got me lessons as a kid. Helped me feel... more normal." He explained quietly,

"Normal?" she asked, cocking her head slightly.

He explained how he went to Muggle School before he came to Hogwarts, so that he would have an idea what muggle life was like; that was how he met Sophia. However knowing what he was, and how he was different from the other kids made him feel odd, different, even though he knew he was lucky.

"No one likes feeling like an outsider" he said simply, smiling down at her. Without thinking she stood on her toes, and kissed his cheek, "Thank you for letting me stay here" she said quietly, looking up at him, her hand brushing his.

"Any time" he whispered; her blue eyes boring into his own hazel ones. His skin felt like it was on fire from where she'd kissed him. He took a deep breath.

"Albus! Lily! James! Ellie! Dinner!" Harry called from the bottom of the stairs. He closed his eyes as she looked towards the stairs, She smiled, "Well, we better go then"

"Yeah..."

**A/N: Yay two chapters in one go... the last one was shorter than this but it was kind of an explanatory chapter...**

**Hope this story isn't going downhill... I tend to get discouraged so... Also I'm sorry if it's bad.**


	12. Chapter 12

Ellie awoke in the morning; it took her a minute to remember where she was. She looked around, smiling. She pulled the sheets off of herself, and opened the curtains. Snow was falling heavily outside – She smiled again, she loved the snow. Something about the way it fell, gently, gracefully, each snow flake its own – snow was just, special, to her. She stood at her window for a while, watching the snow, she looked down into the backyard and saw James, Albus and Lily outside, wrapped in coats and scarfs, she watched them for a while, smiling.

James was a morning person, especially when he was at home for the holidays, bouncing out of bed at 8am, he got changed and went to wake up Lily, he contemplated waking Ellie, but thought against it; _Give her time to rest. She needs it as much as you do,_ He thought to himself. Lily was already awake, looking out her window to the snow,

"Beautiful, isn't it?" He said to her from the doorway, she turned around and nodded softly.

"Come on, I'll make you a hot chocolate" he said, she smiled and followed him down the stairs. Albus was already in the kitchen, "About time..." he grumbled, "Mum had to go to the hospital, some emergency and Dad has just gone to see Uncle Ron for a bit, he'll be back later... Breakfast?"

James rolled his eyes at his brother's constant thinking of his stomach, "Sure – what do you want?" he asked as Lily sat down at the bench with Albus.

"Bacon" he said quickly, banging his hands on the bench impatiently as he laughed, James laughed with him, shaking his head.

"Lils?"

"Bacon" she agreed, smiling, "Please."

"Bacon it is" James said, digging the meat from the freezer, he defrosted it with hot water from the tap and found a pan from underneath the stove. While the bacon was cooking, he boiled some milk and added chocolate powder and chocolate sauce. He finished cooking, leaving enough for Ellie he served up 3 plates of the food, and the three of them sat at the table, eating and drinking their hot chocolate.

"Can we go outside?" Lily asked, as Albus took the plates and cleaned them in the sink. James nodded, and the three of them grabbed their coats and boots from the back door and trudged out in the snow. James took hold of Lily's arms and Al picked her up by her legs, and together they swung her back and forth, finally letting go of her, for her to go flying into a massive pile of snow – she squealed happily.

James then proceeded to push Albus into the snow, he toppled backwards and sunk so far into the snow James couldn't see his face. James laughed as Albus struggled to get out, but when he did – he and Lily chased their brother around the backyard, finally tackling him into the snow, which then instigated a snowball fight, James being the clear winner, shouting – "I am the king!" he raised his arms in victory, and as he did so, he looked up to see Ellie watching from her bedroom window, he waved at her – she blushed, waving back, but while he was distracted, Albus took to opportunity to tackle him again.

"Ooof" James said as he spat out a mouthful of snow. Albus and Lily laughed, as James took two handfuls of snow and knocked them both in the face.

"You lot! Inside before you catch your death out there!" Harry called from the doorway, James stood up – taking a handful of snow with him, and lobbed it at Harry, who pulled out his wand and muttered, "Incendio" the snow melted and the now water fell to the ground. James narrowed his eyes, Harry laughed and said, "You should know better than that" as the three of them trudged inside, their coats drenched – they hung them up and sat in front of the fireplace to warm up.

Ellie had made her way downstairs, wearing a pair of jeans and a blue and white striped sweater. "Morning" she smiled, as she sat down next to Lily by the fire,

"Morning" James returned her smile, as everyone else greeted her – "Oh, there's bacon in the kitchen" he told her, she nodded, "Thanks".

"How's Uncle Ron?" Lily asked Harry, He grinned, "Same old, same old – Oh and remember we're gonna go over to the burrow tonight and stay for Christmas" he reminded them, smiling fondly as he thought of the Burrow.

"Burrow?" Ellie asked Lily quietly,

"It's our Grandparents house" Lily answered quietly, smiling back, "You'll love it". James smiled at Lily and Ellie, but something popped into his head, "Oh, Dad?"

"Yes James?" Harry asked, he had almost left the room to get a coffee. James from the floor by the fire asked, "Is Teddy going to be there?"

"I'd say so, yes" Harry grinned, knowing how fond James was of Teddy – Teddy Lupin was like James' big brother. James grinned.

James was sitting by the fire again later that day, with his guitar. He was strumming random chords, until he thought of something he wanted to play. Whenever he played, it was like he would forget where he was; it was kind of like – a stress relief for him.

_Oh, thinkin' about all our younger years__  
__There was only you and me__  
__We were young and wild and free__  
__Now nothin' can take you away from me__  
__We've been down that road before__  
__But that's over now__  
__You keep me comin' back for more_

He didn't know that she was standing in the doorway behind him; she leant on the door frame. Listening, watching him intently – not only was the guitar flawless, but his voice was like silk. She would never have thought that this side of James existed.

_You're all that I want  
You're all that I need_

As the song finished, she clapped softly. His head snapped around, his ears going red.

"Ellie" he said quickly, placing his guitar on the ground,

"Sorry – I didn't mean to spy" she said softly, "But that was beautiful" she said, taking a few steps into the room.

"It's fine" he shrugged, smiling – he moved over to make room for her on the couch. She sat down, she was silent for a moment before she spoke, "You're really lucky, you know"

"How so?" James asked, tilting his head slightly as he examined her – as he watched her, noticing she had light freckles dusting her nose and that her eyes were more piercing up close. She blinked a few times, swallowing she said,

"This, all of this, your house, your family – it's all just..." she trailed off, looking from him, to the fire.

"Just what, Ellie?"

"Wonderful" she said quietly, looking down at her hands. He suddenly felt guilty – for bringing her here, insisting that she come, rubbing his family in her face – he could not have felt worse. He grabbed her hand gently, hoping she wouldn't protest.

She didn't, but she still didn't look up at him, absentmindedly he lightly rubbed the back of her hand with his thumb as he too, stared into the fire. She took a breath,

"It means a lot that you brought me here" she said quietly,

"It does?" he asked, his voice almost a whisper. She nodded, only slightly but he caught it. He used his free hand, looping his finger under her chin he lifted it so she was looking at him. Their eyes met, and she blushed,

"Are you lot all packed and ready to go?" Harry's voice resonated through the house, she seemed to be woken out of some reverie, she stood up and left hurriedly, James hung his head, closing his eyes.

_Voldemort may not have been able to do the job, but I swear if he interrupts us one more time I will personally kill him_, James thought to himself as she left the room.

**A/N: Okay wow three chapters in a day, I know they're short but I was on a roll today... **

**:)**

**Sorrrry lyrics are Heaven by Bryan Adams which I do not own (I wish...)**


	13. Chapter 13

**A/N: Sorry it's been a while, hopefully this makes up for it xx**

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James had spent a good forty minutes introducing Ellie to the rest of his family; there was his Aunty Hermione and Uncle Ron, and their kids Hugo and Rose, then there was Uncle George and Auntie Angelina, the twins Fred and Roxanne, and finally Bill and Fleur's daughters Victoire and Dominique and their son Louis. His Uncle Percy and his family were in France, and his Uncle Charlie was spending the holidays in Romania like he always did. There was also his Grandparents, Arthur and Molly. Ellie was slightly overwhelmed. She smiled as she watched the twins crawl around on the carpet.

"They're cute, right?" Albus said, flopping down into the couch next to her, she nodded – grinning. The two of them started discussing Quidditch, and how they were going to destroy Slytherin after the break.

There was a squeal from the stairway as Lily and Rose ran down the stairs, closely followed by James and Teddy Lupin, Harry's godson. The boys laughing as they chased the girls outside, Ellie watching the scene over her shoulder as she smiled to herself she turned back to the fire, though her smile did not go unnoticed by Albus, who in his blunt nature openly asked her, "Do you fancy my brother or what?"

She stared at him, "I...um...well...I-" she stuttered before giving up, sighing she said, "Is that obvious?" as a blush was creeping up in her cheeks. Albus grinned, "You should tell him" he said. Her blush deepened as she said quietly, "I tried once already..." but Albus stood up, "Tell him again, my brother's a little thick. Mum used to have to ask him 3 times in the morning if he'd remembered to put jocks on" he laughed as he left the room, throwing her an encouraging wink. James picked Rose up as they got outside, throwing her over her shoulder as they ran through the snow. Teddy did the same as he lifted Lily off of the ground, causing the young girls to squeal again, "Put me down!" Rose yelled as she squirmed on James' shoulder.

"Who are the best cousins?" James asked her, grinning at Teddy, "You are! You and Teddy are!" Rose yelled, James laughed and put her back down in the snow, "And don't you forget it!" he grinned.

He looked back towards the burrow, seeing Ellie looking out of the window he waved at her, grinning as he did. She waved back, turning away quickly as she blushed. The rest of the afternoon was pretty standard in the Burrow for Christmas eve, ridiculous amounts of food, family traditions and the like. Ellie was a little jealous, she couldn't hide that. She had eventually slipped out once they had all moved to sit by the fireplace.

She sat outside on the porch step as the snow fell; she loved this house as much as she loved the Potters, it was warm and inviting – she couldn't help but feel another pang of jealousy towards James. The door opened behind her,

"Are you nuts? It's freezing out" James spoke as he sat next to her.

"It's fine" she laughed lightly, watching the snow fall.

"Don't be a prat" James said as he took off his coat, and hung it over her shoulders, She inhaled – it smelt of him; of cinnamon and freshly baked cookies. She smiled and quietly said, "Thanks"

She took his hand in hers, wordlessly.

"I got you a present" he said, pulling a square box from him pocket, she frowned,

"You didn't have to do that" she said, her voice merely louder than a whisper, he smiled, tucking a strand of her hair behind her ear, he passed the box to her.

She held it for a moment, before opening it slowly. She couldn't breathe, "James" she whispered,

"You deserve to have a nice Christmas" was all he said simply.

She pulled the thin silver chain from the box, it was a bracelet. She fumbled slightly, trying to put it on, James laughed, "Here..." he said, taking it from her, wrapping it around her wrist, his fingers lightly grazing her skin as he fastened the clasp. It was a simple silver chain, with the smallest blue stone hanging from it.

She bit her lip, "It's beautiful" she said, looking down at it.

He gulped nervously, running a hand through his hair, "You're beautiful" he said quietly as he brushed some snow from her hair.

He could hear his Aunt Hermione playing the piano softly inside, he smiled; standing up he held his hand out to her. She smiled at the hand, taking it he pulled her up. He pulled her towards him – the two began to dance in a small circle in the snow.

Her head was leaning on his shoulder, he smiled. She looked up at him, as a fresh lot of snow began to fall – She smiled. The piano stopped, but the pair didn't part. James' breathe became shallow, he could smell her perfume; sweet, floral... he brushed her hair from her eyes. Her arms were still around his neck, she absentmindedly played with the hair at the base of his neck. Their eyes locked, and everything moved in slow motion, her eyes closed and her lips parted slightly, he leant down to her.

For the briefest moment, their lips brushed – no one interrupted them and she didn't refuse him – she stood on her toes and pressed her lips into his. He pulled his lips from hers, brushing her hair away from her ear he whispered – "Told you it needed to be perfect" his nose brushing her ear as he spoke. Her heart raced as she realised he had remembered her words to him on Halloween. She tried to speak but she couldn't form any words, so her mouth hung open stupidly.


	14. Chapter 14

**A/N:** _I am begging you not to hate me for how long its been since I've update - The last year has been manic. If you're still around/still invested in this fic/still want to be my friend, please forgive me, after all I do adore you guys. I hope this chapter is a sufficient amount of Jellie for now - fingers crossed I'll get some more your way asap! There's a bit of cute Lily/Ellie bonding, which I promise to put more of in later if you guys like it._

* * *

James had hardly slept that night; his mind was running a hundred miles a minute – thinking of her and only her. The way her lips felt, the way her hands went to his hair, like an instinct. The way she pressed herself against him when she deepened the kiss, the fact that _she_ deepened the kiss, the fact that they'd kissed, but he'd been right.

It had been perfect.

When he woke in the morning, he dressed and made his way downstairs, expecting only his grandparents to be awake. He walked into the kitchen, finding it empty. He frowned, until he heard voices from the living room. He made his way towards the voices, and stood in the doorway as he identified them. The sight made him smile, Lily and Ellie were sitting on the sofa nearest the fireplace, Lily had her foot outstretched towards Ellie, who was balancing a small emerald green bottle of nail varnish on her knee.

"Merlin, I wish I was Head Girl." Lily sighed, as she flicked her hair over her shoulder. Unnoticed by Ellie, but very much noticed by James, how similar that hair flick was to Ellie Williams' own. James smiled,

"You could be, I think you'd make a wonderful Head girl." Ellie smiled, as she spread the nail varnish over Lily's toes. Lily grinned, and Ellie couldn't help but noticed how similar Lily's and James' grins were; actually they also beared a very striking resemblance to the one Albus has thrown her the night before. James cleared his throat from the doorway, that bloody grin resting comfortably on his lips. Ellie's heart skipped a beat, and she smiled softly towards him.

Lily looked between the two of them and she jumped up off the sofa, careful not to ruin her nails, "I'm going to go wake Mum and Dad." She said, looking knowingly between her brother and the Head Girl.

"Happy Christmas, Ellie." The youngest Potter said, before kissing the girl on the cheek, whilst whispering something to her that made Ellie's cheeks burn.

"Happy Christmas, James" Lily beamed, throwing her arms around her brother briefly, before disappearing.

There was a small, comfortable silence as James moved to sit on the sofa beside Ellie, while she screwed the cap back on the nail varnish, her cheeks still burning.

"Happy Christmas, Williams." He said softly to her, wrapping his arm around her waist as he smiled at her,

"Happy Christmas, Potter." She replied, matching his gently tone, as her eyes beamed to him. He leaned forward slowly, and pressed his lips tenderly against hers. She felt like she had melted against him, that she was now just a puddle of Ellie Williams on the floor of the Burrow. She kissed him back, her hands wrapping around his neck, as they had the night before. He pulled back ever so slightly, his forehead against hers as he said, "Trying to win Lily over so I'll like you huh?" he teased, rubbing her back softly,

"She's so like you, how could I not adore her?" she replied, with no trace of mocking in her voice. James kissed her once more.

James felt something graze his neck softly, catching something glimmer out of the corner of his eye when she moved her hand, he realised it was the bracelet. His heart beat faster, and he knew why. Because of her, it was always because of her. His lips brushed hers again, softly this time, as he pulled her legs over his, and they sat together entwined on the sofa.

"Knew it. Just didn't know it yet, hey Jamie?" A voice came from the doorway. James rolled his eyes without even looking up and Ellie blushed as she spotted Albus, wearing a smirk that (again) was scarily alike the one James used to wear.

"Out." James said sternly, though his eyes sparkled with slight amusement.

"Ouch, Happy Christmas brother, Ellie." Al said, his smirk still solidly placed on his lips, but before they could respond, he was gone. Ellie's blush was relentless, and James chuckled at her shyness, when he remembered Lily's whisper.

"What did Lils whisper to you before?" he asked, brushing some of her hair out of her face gently, Ellie's cheeks burnt even hotter, "N-nothing." She said with a shrug.

"Tell me." He said with an amused smile and a raised eyebrow, as he kissed her cheek softly, before moving to kiss the other. "Tell me, Ellie." He said slowly, in a deep voice. She almost let a small whimper escape her at the feeling of his warm lips on her already scolding cheeks.

"She – She said that she always wanted a sister." She confessed quietly, her hand running through his hair, and tugging gently on the hair at the base of his neck.

James groaned, "I'm sorry…" Great, so he wasn't even technically dating the girl and his family was already on her case… Great. Just great.

She frowned at his apology, rubbing his neck softly, her blush finally receding, "What for?"

"Lily saying that… Al being a knob… what's surely to come today…" he said, groaning in anticipation. She smiled, shaking her head,

"No, no, I adore your family already. I just hope I made a good enough impression yesterday…" she said, with a genuinely concerned look on her face. It was at that, that somehow triggered a question James should have asked 12 hours ago,

"You'll be my girlfriend, won't you?" He asked quickly, it was his turn for a concerned expression, "I realised that I didn't actually ask you last night, and well we didn't really discuss anything at all, but that's what I want – I kind of hope that's what you want otherwise I'm going to look like such a prat –" He began to ramble, but she cut him off by pressing her lips to his.

"Yes," she said, her face was kind and soft as she looked directly into the warm eyes of James Potter, "That is all I want."

She had no idea where this sudden confidence in the James Potter department had come from, last night she was a stuttering mess, and now she was… well, that answered her question… now she was James Potter's girlfriend.

He grinned, so large that his cheeks began to ache after a while. They sat, entwined on the sofa a while longer, before they heard the rest of the Potter/Weasley clan gathering in the kitchen, awaiting breakfast. James grinned, "S'pose we should go break the news?" he asked, lacing his fingers with hers as he stood up. She nodded, suddenly nervous again.


End file.
